First, some news after the disaster in Nashville. Filip Forsberg will be suspended for three games because of his high hit on Jimmy Vesey. According to NHL.com the following grounds were being considered for supplemental discipline: interference. Yes, that's right...not elbowing, interference. They could have called it interference with intent to kill. What about a suspension and fine for the refs for missing the call? Meanwhile, it appears that Alexei Emelin will get away with his high head shot on Marc Staal. No word on the extent of the injuries to Staal and Vesey, but the team recalled Vinni Lettieri for the game in Dallas. At any rate, it'll cost Forsberg three games and almost $100k. The Rangers could have used the five minute major.
With this Ranger season going up in flames and the injuries mounting, it looks like the Rangers are headed for the draft lottery. They currently sit 9th worst, behind Arizona, Buffalo, Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton, Detroit and Florida, but are only seven points from having the fourth worst record in the league. You hate to say it, but Ranger fans need to be rooting for the teams between Ottawa and New York the rest of the season. There is a website that tracks lottery pick odds and with the team in 9th place, the Blueshirts have a 5.4% shot at the #1 pick. Fourth place and the odds double. Check out tankathon.com: http://www.tankathon.com/nhl/pick_odds
The Athletic has the Rangers finishing with 85 points, good for 8th worst in the league. The way the draft lottery works is all 15 teams that miss the playoffs have a shot at the top three picks, determined by a draw of ping pong balls with the higher weight to the teams with the worst records. If a team doesn't move up to 1-3, the remaining position is determined by points.
So, a Ranger fan REALLY wants the team to finish as close to the bottom as possible to get a top pick. The only way for this sell-off to succeed is to tank and here's why.
The Chicago Blackhawks are closest to a dynasty the NHL has seen in recent memory, with three Stanley Cup championships in six years. They are now on the downswing, betrayed by the salary cap that has forced them to give up carefully cultivated assets to make the cap. With no salary cap, the Blackhawks would be a much better team today and that is on the NHL.
The Blackhawks had a very bad stretch of seasons, only making the playoffs once in ten tries from 1997 to 2008. They rebounded from that stretch of ineptitude to win the 2010 Stanley Cup and with an intact core, go on to win the Cup in 2013 and 2015. How did they do it?
They did it with with some savvy free agent signings, excellent late round drafting and above all, some top picks. It took a while, as they had top ten picks for four straight years (1998-2001) and made some really bad picks. Their top ten draft picks those years were Mark Bell, Steve McCarthy, Mikhail Yakubov and Tuomo Ruutu. Only Ruutu had an NHL career.
Beginning in 2002 they started to do much better in the entry draft. They took Duncan Keith in the second round in 2002. In 2003, Brent Seabrook was the 14th pick overall and they drafted Corey Crawford in the second round. They also struck gold with Dustin Byfuglien in the 8th round. In 2004, they drafted Troy Brouwer in the 7th round. Those late round picks made up for bad first round selections in the same years.
They made decent trades. In 2006, Patrick Sharp came from Philadelphia and in 2007 Kris Versteeg from Boston for little in return. In 2008 Andrew Ladd came from Carolina in exchange for former #1 pick Tuomo Ruutu.
They filled holes in the roster with free agent signees Brian Campbell and Antti Niemi (undrafted) in 2008 and Marian Hossa in 2009.
But undeniably, the two key acquisitions were draft picks. In 2006, with the third overall pick they took Jonathan Toews. In 2007, the first year of the draft lottery, they moved from 5th to 1st pick overall and selected Patrick Kane. The Hawks were incredibly fortunate to get the first pick, but they also went after Kane who was ranked second after Kyle Turris by Central Scouting.
The 2009 team went to the Conference Finals and was pretty much the same team that won the Cup the next year. They had a stellar forward corps made up of Toews, Kane, Hossa, Ladd, Brouwer, Versteeg and Sharp. The defense was top notch with Keith, Byfuglien, Seabrook and Campbell. Goaltending was deep with Corey Crawford and Antti Niemi.
The one undeniable fact is that it was the core four that made them the dynasty that won three Stanley Cups. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith were the four pieces and they wouldn't have had the success without them.
While Duncan Keith was a great second round pick and Marian Hossa was an excellent free agent signing, it was the #1 pick (Kane) and the #3 pick (Toews) that sealed the deal.
How does this apply to the New York Rangers? They've always had a deep, solid corps of players, but it is the Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews that they lack. They thought they were getting it in Marty St. Louis, Marian Gaborik and Rick Nash, but those deals haven't paid off. It's the same with the Pittsburgh Penguins who have ridden Sydney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc Andre Fleury to Nirvana and also to the Los Angeles Kings with Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty.
Add a Malkin, Kopitar or Toews to the Rangers of 2015 and what happens? One can only dream. Let the tanking begin.
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